Lessons Learned
by lostinthewords
Summary: Lessons Elizabeth and Henry learned from their 3 year olds
1. Stephanie

_Fishing pole sinks faster than a tackle box_

Stephanie was excited to finally go fishing with her mother. They walked along the bank of the river, looking for a nice beachy area to practice on. She wanted to go up to the rocks but her mom said she not until she was eight-years-old.

"Here is your pole," It was one Stephanie picked out herself, it was black with a panda on the reel just like the ones in the zoo.

Elizabeth held her pole in one hand, keeping the other free to help Stephanie. "Now, hold your pole behind you like this then reach up and over your head to throw it in the water." She mimicked the motion a few times to show her.

Stephanie watched intently, determined to do it just like her mom.

When Stephanie seemed to have the motion down Elizabeth taught her the next step. "Now it's time to release the line. See this button?" she turned her pole around to show her the button, Stephanie did the same.

"This one?" she pointed to the black button on her pole.

"That's the one. You're going to hold it down when the pole is behind you then when the pole is pointing towards the tops of the trees over there you let go of it. Okay?"

"Okay mommy." She practiced a few more times. The first time she let the button go too early so the line fell directly behind her. The second time it crashed at her feet because she released the button too late. Stephanie huffed and pouted "It's not working."

Elizabeth stood behind Stephanie and held her hand over Stephanie's to let her feel the motions and timing correctly. "You do it on your own now and I'll be right here fishing next to you."

Elizabeth took in the sight around her, the sound of rushing water, the occasional fish jumping, birds chirping and leaves rustling in the wind. The river was her favorite place. Her dad used to take her out in the summers and they'd spend all day fishing and eating sunflower seeds, sometimes they didn't even stop to eat lunch. Out here she was disconnected from everything, no phone service for the company to call her in; it was just her, her daughter and the nature surrounding them.

"How you doing sweetie?"

Stephanie turned to her mother, gave her a big smile and a thumbs up.

"Let me know when you want a break or a snack okay?"

"I'm good!" She was thrilled to be just like her mom today, if her mom was fishing then she would fish. One day she would be big enough to get the waders and vest and go out into the river just like her mom. When that day happened she wanted to be ready.

"Can I go closer to the water?"

Elizabeth knew the water was shallow and it was just sand at the bottom right in front of them and she was wearing a life vest but the river could be unpredictable. "Don't go past your ankles okay?"

Stephanie took 2 steps forward and 1 jump back. "It's cold!" Elizabeth laughed and Stephanie determined to be like her mom hesitantly stepped forward again, entering the water.

She threw her line in again and felt a tug this time. "Mommy help! I got a fish!"

Elizabeth dropped her pole and closed the distance in 2 strides. "Hold on to it, slowly reel it in." The lack of fighting caused her to suspect it was a small fish. She grabbed the net as it reached the surface and scooped it up.

"Hold it by line so I can take a picture."

Stephanie took it from Elizabeth and held it up for the camera. "One, two, three." Right as Elizabeth snapped the picture the fish broke free jumping back into the water; Stephanie went after the fish and Elizabeth went after Stephanie.

Elizabeth jerked her back to shore by her vest. "You can't do that! What did I tell you about going into the water?"

"Not to." Stephanie said staring at her shoes. "But my fish."

"Your safety comes first. There will always be another fish but there isn't another you."

"I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again. Okay?" Stephanie nodded. "Now, let's see if we can catch a bigger one."

Stephanie went to get her pole but didn't see it on the sand, she couldn't find the tackle box either.

"Where's my pole and tackle box?"

"It's right there-" Elizabeth looked around but didn't see it anywhere. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something floating in the water. "I found the tackle box." She pointed just off the shore where it floated against a rock.

"Where's my pole?"

"Sorry baby but I think it got knocked into the river when you went after the fish."

Her lip quivered, "No more fishing today?"

"I'm afraid not. But we can still have our picnic and play on the beach. How does that sound?"

Stephanie rested her finger on her chin while she thought about it. "I guess that's okay."

"Just okay? I bet I can build a bigger sandcastle than you."

"No! We do it together!"

"Okay baby, we'll do it together."

 _Nothing turns a day around like licking a mixing bowl_

Elizabeth watched her daughter sulk in front of the T.V. usually Pocahontas made everything better from a cold to a scrapped knee to Elizabeth going on a work trip. They were supposed to go to the zoo, Stephanie had been asking all week to go so Elizabeth promised if she was good at daycare everyday then they would go on Saturday. But an unexpected thunderstorm came through so they had to cancel and Stephanie was not happy about it and Elizabeth couldn't blame her.

Stephanie's next favorite activity came to mind; she wasn't sure how well it would go but if it meant seeing her daughter smile she would give it her best.

"Hey sweetie, how about we bake some cupcakes?"

Stephanie squinted at her, thinking long and hard before speaking. "But you don't bake or cook."

"Okay I guess I'll go put this box of funfetti cake mix away…" She pushed off the doorway and slowly padded toward the pantry.

Stephanie jumped off the couch and ran to her mother. "Funfetti?! No I wanna! I wanna!"

"You get your mixing bowl and spoon and I'll get the eggs." Stephanie liked baking so much they put plastic bowls and spoons special for her.

She put on her white apron that said _Chef Stephanie, Master of the kitchen's little helper_ , and pulled up her stool. "Can I crack the egg?"

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow, "Have you done it before?"

Stephanie nodded, "Daddy showed me. I be gentle, promise."

Elizabeth couldn't resist the big green eyes pleading with her. "You can do 1."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," She danced in place careful not to fall off the stool.

Elizabeth poured in the cake mix, and measured the water and oil for Stephanie to pour in. She watched Stephanie gently tap the egg on the counter, biting her lip in concentration. Once it was cracked she held it above the bowl and tried to pull it apart but her fingers crushed the shell and a few pieces fell in with the egg.

"Oh no!"

"It's okay baby, we'll just take them out."

Elizabeth quickly beat the batter once the shells were removed and let Stephanie stir with the spoon after it was mixed together.

"Hello?" Elizabeth answered the phone as she put the treats in the oven.

"Hey babe, just letting you know the review session is running longer than I expected but I'll still be home for dinner."

"Okay, drive home safe. Love you."

"Love you too."

They went back to the movie while the cupcakes baked.

"Don't forget to put a timer, mom," Stephanie said as she got comfortable and turned her attention back on the movie.

Elizabeth nodded her head, and noticed they would be done by the end of the hour so she saw no need to set a timer as long as she kept an eye on the clock. She became so engrossed in the colorful movie, noticing underlying statements and themes that went over her daughter's head that she didn't notice her oldest fall sleep. Faintly, she thought she smelt something off from the house's usual fresh aroma but she didn't give it a second thought. A moment later, the scent crossed her nose again, this time stronger, a touch of ashen air passing through her nose. Looking at her clock, she was it a quarter past and quickly sprang up and rushed to the oven. The closer she got, the stronger the burning scent hit her. Opening the oven door unleashed a grey cloud covering her vision, and her nose was blocked with the smell of burnt funfetti cake.

"Mommy?" Stephanie asked on the verge of tears,"the cupcakes are ruined?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. But hey you know what the best part of baking is?"

She sniffled, wiping the drip from her nose, "What?"

"Eating the batter!"

Her eyes lit up like her world had been changed. "You can do that?"

"It's a must when baking."

Henry came home to find his two girls laughing over a bowl of cake batter and singing along to Disney songs.

He kissed his daughter's head, "How was your day?"

"We didn't go to the zoo because of rain and mommy burnt the cupcakes."

"Sounds eventful." He said against her lips before kissing her.

"But is okay we eat cake batter instead."

Henry snuck into between them, eyeing the cake batter before taking a quick swipe of the bowl with his finger.

"No, daddy! Is for mommy and me!"

A devilish smile spread across his face, his chest puffed out and arms went outwards. "I am the cake batter monster!" His voice boomed through the room.

Stephanie screamed, held the bowl tighter against her, shielding it from her dad. Henry stomped around the couch, slowly creeping towards his daughter who was trying to hide in Elizabeth's side. Another scream pierced the room as closed in on her, tickling her sides causing her screams to turn to laughter.

 _Dig to china with a spoon_

"Hey sweetie what are you doing?" he found his eldest daughter digging in the backyard with a spoon, her backpack next to her.

"Running away"

That wasn't the answer he was expecting. "Where are you going?"

"China."

"How are you going to get there?"

"Digging." She answered without breaking her focus.

"Oh okay." He had so many questions but decided against asking them right now.

He joined Elizabeth at the kitchen sink where they could still keep an eye on Stephanie. "You know our daughter is trying to run away to china?"

"Yeah she told me."

"That's it?"

"She's mad at me because I told her she couldn't have any more marshmallow fluff."

He gasped, feigning shock. "Wow. How dare you? I think I might have to call CPS." Elizabeth laughed. "How long are you going to let her do that?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "until she gets tired or realizes it won't work, whichever comes first"

They were sitting on the couch watching TV when the backdoor opened then slammed shut.

"Hey sweetie? Did you already go to China and back?"

"No, I'm hungry. Is dinner done?"

Henry glanced at his watch, oh it was dinner time. He sprung up from the couch to scramble something together.

Stephanie went to sit next to her mom but Elizabeth swooped her up before she made it to the couch. "Woah there, let's get you in the bath first."

She was covered in dirt and grass stains. "Are you done digging to China?"

"No."

"No?!" Elizabeth faked being shocked.

"I try again tomorrow."

Stephanie was stubborn just like Elizabeth. Logically, she knew it wasn't possible but if anyone could do it she knew her daughter could.

 _When I'm wrong I should just say so_

"Daddy?" Henry quickly put a smile on his face, Stephanie didn't need to know anything was wrong.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

She stared at him before asking, "Are you sad?"

"No, I'm not sad."

Stephanie frowned and climbed up in his lap; she didn't believe him. She snuggled against him for a little bit, then gave him a kiss on cheek. "All better?"

"Thank you. I love you."

"Love you." She said as she walked away to go find mommy.

Elizabeth was sitting at the kitchen table, the TV on in the background. The fight with Henry playing over and over in her mind. She didn't how it spiraled, it started out as a simple comment about him not taking out the trash and snowballed into something bigger. She chalked it up to be overtired and overworked. The sound of pitter patter pulled her from her thoughts. "Look who woke up from her nap!"

"Why is you and daddy sad?"

Elizabeth sighed, Stephanie was too smart for her own good. Knowing there was no point in lying she went for a version of the truth.

"I said something that wasn't very nice and I didn't mean."

"Say sorry like me."

"You think I should say sorry?"

"Yes. You say sorry, hug, and kiss then all better."

Somehow her three-year-old daughter managed to make everything seem so simple. The situation was a little more complicated than that but she had a point. The best way to fix things were to admit you were wrong and say sorry.

"How did you get so smart? Huh? How did you get so smart?" She asked as she squeezed her and peppered her with kisses all over.

Elizabeth knocked on the bedroom doorway to let Henry know she was there. "We're in trouble."

Henry looked at her puzzled. She stayed where she was, aware of the tension between them.

"Stephanie is now smarter than us."

The hard lines on his face soften, "She tried to comfort you too?"

"Not just that but also gave me advice on what to do."

Henry raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? What did she say?"

"She said to apologize and she's right. I'm sorry Henry, I didn't mean what I said."

"You don't think I'm a pompous ass?"

She uncrossed her arms and slowly padded across the room. "No, I think you have a very sexy ass."

She wrapped her arms around him, her hands trailed down his back, landing on his ass and giving it a quick squeeze.

"Do you forgive me?"

"I want to but I think I need a little more convincing."

"Well it's a good thing she also told me a kiss makes everything better."

"Well, you did say our daughter was smarter than us. I think we should listen to make sure."

Their lips moved against each other, their hands roaming each other, getting lost in each other. When they broke apart, they laid there, sweaty and sated, catching their breath.

"Remind me to buy her a pony."


	2. Jason

_A/N: I wanted to post them in order of the children but Alison is being extremely difficult and this one was the first one I wrote so I'm not going to make you all wait anymore. Enjoy!_

 _A garbage can is a damn good spot to hide truck keys_

"Jason I need you tell me where you hid mommy's keys."

The blonde hair toddler just smiled back at his mom, his hands playing with his fingers behind his back and rocking in place.

"I'm going to be late for work."

He flopped forward, pouting and his hands slapped the couch. "No work."

Elizabeth sucked in a deep breath, held it then released. _Yelling at him isn't going to me anywhere_ she reminded herself. "Jason…"

"Stay. You play wit me." He gave her his best puppy dog face. "Pwease?"

Oh, he was good.

Jason was having a hard with Elizabeth going back to work. She only taught 3 days a week for a couple of hours each day. She wanted to be home with the kids, enjoy this time with them. Before she knew it they would be all grown up and ready to leave the nest.

"They're not in his room, I dumped all of his toys and checked nook and cranny. I'm sorry babe."

"Okay let's try a different approach." She scooped up her son, his giggles echoing in the room.

Normally, his high pitched laughter filled their hearts but today wasn't one for games. They had spent all morning looking for Elizabeth's keys. At first she assumed she misplaced them, something wasn't uncommon then she saw Jason hiding in the corner, under a blanket, his go to place when he was in trouble. It didn't matter how many times he did something, he always thought that they wouldn't find him there. Kid's logic was a funny thing sometimes and other times it was almost too logical.

Jason was used to both his parents being home during summer vacation but that was over now and he was having a hard time adjusting. So he did they only thing he knew would force them to stay, hide the car keys. They can't go anywhere without a car.

This wasn't the first time he tried it, the first time he hid them in his toy box, then couch, then he tried his bed. All of those were obvious places and somewhere along the way he learned that.

"Are the keys in this room?" She asked softly. Hopefully, this little bit of attention will be enough for him to answer.

Jason shook his head. She walked into the downstairs bathroom next.

"Are they in here?"

He buried his head in her shoulder, "No!"

He gave the same answer when she took him in the playroom and the dining room.

The kitchen was the last stop before heading upstairs.

"What about here? Did you put mommy's keys in here?"

He looked at the cabinet under the sink before shaking his head no. Now, she knew they had more time before tradecraft became the family business.

She put him down, opened up the cabinet and began to take each item out one by one. It wasn't in the buckets, or the extra dish towels they kept under there.

"You think he put them under there?"

"He looked directly at this cabinet before saying no but he had that little smile that said otherwise."

"Okay miss spy but you didn't find them. Unless..."

She came out of the cabinet, the ground hard on her knees, a sign she wasn't as young as she used to be.

"Unless what Henry?" She followed his gaze when he didn't answer. "No…he wouldn't."

"If you really think they're under the sink the garbage can is the only place left."

She sifted through the garbage, praying they were near the top. There were wrappers, a banana peel and some other food scrapes but still no keys. She dug a little further before seeing a glint from the ceiling lights. Pushing a used coffee filter to the side she finally found them. She quickly cleaned off them off and check the clock, she had just enough time to get to class.

"I'll be back in a few hours." She kissed him goodbye and headed out the door. "Oh and I'm bringing home a key rack!"

 _Why go inside when you can go behind a tree_

"Jason no! you have to go inside!"

"Nah uh. Mommy and daddy told me I can go outside!"

"That's only when we go camping or fishing. We're at home."

Stevie grabbed Jason's arms and tried to drag him inside but he managed to wiggle free.

Elizabeth watched her kids from the kitchen. Bickering wasn't unusual and she was trying to teach them to work it out on their own. She let them fight for another minute before stepping outside. "Hey, girls what is going on our here?"

"Jason is peeing in the yard instead of the bathroom!"

"It's gross," Alison said.

As long as he wasn't going in his pants or on anyone Elizabeth didn't really have a problem with it. But she didn't want him making a habit of it, she didn't need him doing that at day care or the park.

"I told him he wasn't supposed to unless we were camping or fishing but he didn't listen."

"It's okay I got it from here."

He pointed to the wet spot by the tree, "Mommy! I squirt the dirt!" He beamed with pride.

She suppressed a laugh and shook her head. "I see that. Why didn't you go inside?"

"Too far, I had to go bad."

She knelt down to his level. "Good job for not peeing your pants but next time try to go inside. Also, you only do this at home or when we're camping or fishing okay?"

"Okay mommy. I go play?"

She kissed his forehead, "Yeah, you can go play."

 _You can be a cowboy on the moon_

Jason tugged on Henry's shirt sleeve, "Daddy?"

"One second bud." Henry was in the middle of grading papers and just needed to finish the paragraph to keep track of the student's argument. "Okay, what do you want?" He asked taking of his glasses and scooting his chair back so Jason could climb up.

"Can you build me a rocket?"

"A rocket? Don't cowboys ride horses?" He looked over his son who was wearing his riding boots, a brown vest, bandana around his neck and a cowboy hat.

Jason's face scrunched up as he thought about it. "No, cowboys live on the moon and a rocket goes to the moon."

Well, he couldn't argue with that logic. "Let's go see if we can find some boxes?"

He found some half empty boxes in the garage. He laughed when he turned around and saw Jason covered in a box.

"It needs to be tall so I can stand and move to fly." He said, his voice muffled.

"Is that one tall enough?"

"Yeah, see?" Jason walked around in the garage with the box over his head.

"Careful don't want you to run into anything."

"I need a win…wind…a window so I can see."

"That sounds like a good plan. Anything else you want?"

"A door and… fwames!"

"Flames? How can we make flames that seems dangerous?"

Jason made a big show of sighing, he had definitely picked that up from his sisters. "Not really flames. Just pretend ones. We can draw them!"

Henry cut out a circle window and a door in the big box while Jason drew whatever he wanted on it and finished it off with a pointed roof.

"How does that look?"

Jason walked around it slowly, inspecting every side of it. "It's missin somethin." He walked around it once more trying to figure it out. He looked so much like Elizabeth, they both scrunched up their eyebrows and bit their lip when concentrating. "Legs! It's missin legs!"

"Rocket's don't have legs Jason."

"Yes, they do." He ran off grabbed a piece of paper from his room and came back. "See!" He said shoving the picture in his dad's face.

"Oh you mean the fin."

Jason fell into a fit of laughter. "You silly daddy."

"Why am I silly?"

"Rockets don't have fins, fish do!"

Not wanting to start that argument, another trait Jason inherited from his mom, he went off to find some rocket legs. Once everything was exactly how Jason wanted he went back to grading his papers while Jason was a cowboy fighting aliens on the moon that the president put there. Oh boy, they were going to have his hands full with him when he grew up.

 _Couple arms to kill the cold_

The pitter patter of feet on the hard wood floor down the hall woke Elizabeth up. She listened to see if Jason was coming to them. Their door creaked open, the soft hallway light sneaking through.

"Mama?" He said weakly.

She instantly knew what was wrong, he only called her mama when he was sick.

"Come here baby." She held her arms out to lift him up on the bed.

"I'm not a baby." He grumbled then coughed a few times.

Elizabeth suppressed a smile, he will always be her baby, especially when he was sick and called her mama.

"Are you sick?"

He sniffled, wiping at his running nose, "yeah." He snuggled against her chest.

She could tell he didn't have a fever so that was good, it was likely just a cold that would pass in a day.

"How about you spend the rest of the night here and see how you feel in the morning?"

He snuggled further under the covers, feeling a little better already. She rubbed circles on his back, whispering soothing words in his ear to help him drift off to sleep.

Henry woke up and reach over to snuggle against his wife for a little bit before waking up for the day only to find another little body in their bed. He felt Elizabeth stir before opening her eyes.

"Hey babe," she said, her voice still filled with sleep.

"Good morning. Did he have a bad dream?"

"He's sick. I'm pretty sure it's just a cold, no fever."

"I'll keep the girls away so it doesn't spread. The last thing we need is all 3 of them getting it. I'll bring you some coffee."

"I love you."

Jason and Elizabeth spent the morning in bed, alternating between watching tv and sleeping. Jason was clingy when he was sick, and the only person he wanted was his mom. She hated that he was sick, he looked miserable and all she wanted was to see her happy little boy running around the house.

Currently, Jason was wrapped around her like a koala bear, one hand playing with her hair and the other in his mouth. Something he hasn't done since he was a baby; it was pretty easy to break his thumb sucking habit unlike Alison. She let him get away with it for the day.

"More Bob?"

"Bob the Builder is over buddy." She brushed away the hair stuck to his forehead.

"What now?"

That was a good question. It was almost noon which meant all the younger children shows were ending and the older kid shows were starting.

"How about we put a mickey tape in?"

"Mickey!" Jason yelled as his head flew up.

Elizabeth jerked her head back, just barely preventing his head from smacking into hers. Someone is feeling better.

She picked him and carried him downstairs so he could pick one.

"I was just about to bring up lunch." Henry nodded to the tray with soup for him and a sandwich for her. "Do you want to eat down here?"

Part of Elizabeth wanted to go back upstairs to keep Jason quarantined but she also wanted to see the rest of her family as well.

"Mickey movie," Jason stated, indicating he wanted to go back upstairs to watch.

Henry squeezed her arm and kissed her cheek, "I'll be right behind you."

They settled back into bed, Jason wouldn't leave her arms so Henry set up the movie. He claimed his spot on the bed, scooting closer pretending to squish his son.

"Daddy!" His tiny hands shoved against Henry's frame but didn't actually move him.

"Do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything," Elizabeth continued to eat her sandwich.

"You on me," he said between giggles.

Henry looked down on him in fake shock, "I didn't see you there!"

His nose scrunched up and eyebrows furrowed, "Shhh. Movie on."

"Sorry," Henry whispered.

Jason spent the night in his parents bed again and woke up the next morning, snuck out of bed and downstairs. A loud clamor startled Elizabeth and Henry awake, "I'm up."

"I think Jason's feeling better." Henry groaned when he realized who was missing from the bed and where the sound must have come from.


	3. Alison

_Use every crayon color that you've got_

"Hey, baby's it's time-" Elizabeth stopped in her tracks. "Alison Katherine McCord! What are you doing?"

"Coloring," she said like it was the obvious thing in the world; in her defense it was.

"I can see that." Elizabeth glanced at her daughter's once pink walls that were now rainbow.

"Where did you get the crayons from?" They kept all the crayons and markers away to prevent this exact incident.

"From lunch." She pulled out the other crayons from her pocket and held them up for her mom to see.

Elizabeth held out her hand and Alison reluctantly handed them over. "You know you're not supposed to have crayons in your room. Where do we color?"

She looked down at her feet, "At the table…" she whispered.

"So then why did you color on your walls?"

"It so big," she stretched her arms out as far as they could go. "The paper is too small. See, I drew us at the park this morning. A green lake, blue sky, red flowers and the sun!"

The anger started to subside, she really looked at the drawing this time. She saw the playground, Stephanie on the slide, herself pushing Alison on the swing, ducks in the pond and there were even random kids on the playground. It looked like they had a future artist on their hands.

"This is really good Alison, but you can't draw on the walls. Next time you want to draw a big picture tell me or daddy okay? There's big paper we can buy for you."

Her eyes lit up, "There is?"

"Yes, baby. Now I'm going to go get some water and sponges for us to clean it up."

"No! I want to keep it."

"We can't keep this. We'll buy you the big paper and you can draw it again."

Alison wasn't happy about the answer but knew she wasn't going to get her way so she agreed.

 _Talk to Jesus on the phone_

Henry was on his way to check the laundry when Alison caught his attention. She was sitting on her bed, feet crossed and one hand behind her head, talking on her plastic phone.

"Mama is an angel," he heard him tell the man upstairs. "She's so pretty, yellow hair like an angel. She's nice and fun, she likes to play with me. We play lots of games, and she lets me eat ice cream before dinner but shhhh…that's a secret."

Henry shook his head; he was pretty sure it was supposed to be a secret from him but of course he always knew.

"Can you make Stephanie be nicer to me? Maybe let me play with her toys or pick a movie sometimes. I just want to play with her but she doesn't let me."

His heart broke a little, they had been working on sharing and getting along but Stephanie was at the age where she wanted to do her own thing and not always have her little sister tagging along.

"I want a little sister. I'd be nicer than Stephanie, I'd play with them and share my toys. Will you give me a little sister God?"

Henry remembers making a similar promise when he was her age. Maureen used to boss him around, still does, all he wanted was someone else to play with. He understood Alison, they were both more sensitive and wore their emotions on their sleeves.

She went on and on and back and forth like God was laying there. He just stood and listened, they weren't particularly religious family as a whole, he had his beliefs and Elizabeth had hers. They respected their differences, besides it wasn't like she didn't believe in anything but her experiences growing up led her to the more logical side of things.

Henry and Elizabeth agreed when they got married they wouldn't push religion on their kids, they would introduce them to it and then the kids can decide as they grow up what they believed. Stephanie didn't seem interested in it but Alison has taken to God like a fish to water. She always asked him to tell her stories before bed time and was enamored the first time he took her to a cathedral. And now she was talking to God on the phone like he was her best friend.

"I gotta go, daddy's here. Talk to you later!"

She hung up the phone and smiled at him. "Hi! Want to play Barbies?"

"I'd love to."

 _Say I love you all day long_

Henry gently shook his daughter awake. "Good morning Noodle," He whispered.

Her eyes blinked open, a sleepy smile spreading across Alison's face. "I love you."

"I love you too. You hungry for some pancakes?"

"Minnie Mouse pancakes?" she asked, her brown eyes twinkling with hope.

"With a bacon smile and blueberry eyes?" he responded with a playful smile.

She threw the covers off and wrapped her arms around his neck, "You're the best. I love you daddy!"

Elizabeth had a surprisingly slow day at work, so slow she was able to get off early enough to pick her kids up from school.

"Mommy? Where's daddy?" Alison asked, her eyes looking around while they walked back to the car.

"I got off work early today so I'm picking you up. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, I love you too." She looked up with a cheeky smile, grabbing her mother's hand and swinging their arms.

Elizabeth chuckled, "I love you more, Noodle."

"Mom!" Stephanie yelled from the playroom where she was playing with Alison.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked walking into the playroom to make sure everything was okay.

"Make Ali stop saying she loves me. She's been saying it since we got home."

"She's just happy today, it'll pass quickly. I remember when you would only say 'hi' anytime anyone said something to you your response was 'hi'."

"No, I didn't," her oldest huffed.

"Yes, you did. It's something that toddler's go through. We just have to wait it out." She pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back until she relaxed. "And be happy she's saying I love you, there are mean things she could be saying instead."

"Okay," She almost whined knowing there was nothing her mom could do to stop it.

"I love you Stephanie!" Alison yelled as Elizabeth left the room.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love you too."

 _Sometimes all you need is a hand to hold_

"It's just going to be a little pinch." The doctor in front of her explained.

Alison's legs kicked the air, "Like when Stevie pinches me?"

Elizabeth laughed, "Yeah, something like that."

Her daughter stared at her with her big brown eyes. "But that hurts."

"I know baby, but it'll be over before you know it."

Alison scrunched up her face thinking about it as if she had a choice.

"I brought Mr. Bear for you to squeeze real tight if you need to." Elizabeth pulled the worn bear from her purse. It had been Alison's go to stuffed animal since she came home from the hospital. The nose was missing from when she was teething and chewed it off and there was a little hole in the foot where the stuffing started to come out. Elizabeth reminded herself to sew it up before it got any bigger.

Alison stared at it for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't need that. I'm a big girl!"

Her heart broke, her baby was growing up. It seemed like just yesterday they brought her home from the hospital and now she was too big for Mr. Bear.

The doctor wiped her arm and Alison squirmed. "That's cold." The doctor picked up the needle, "You ready?"

Alison quickly grabbed her mom's hand and nodded. Maybe she wasn't as grown up as Elizabeth thought. She didn't squeeze it but just held it as the doctor gave her the shot and it was over before she knew it.

"That wasn't bad!"

"You did really good Alison. Which Band-Aid?" The doctor held up a few options for her to choose from.

"Barbie."

"Good choice. Want to go get your lollipop?"

Alison looked at her mom for permission before running to the front desk.

 _A/N: So sorry for the long wait. I had it all written except for the I love you one, it was hard to find a way to write it without being too repetitive._


End file.
